Delegates at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention voted, electronically, 55.1 to 44.9 per cent in favour of a motion calling for a moratorium on the installation of the devices.

Some are concerned about radiation exposure but Clark says she’s looked at those issues and is not sold.

“Because when we’re surrounded by wireless and cell phones, there are a lot of other sources of the problem that they’re concerned about, and so I just don’t share those concerns,” she says.

“We’re talking about a smart grid and that smart grid is going to be one of the things that enables the growth in our economy. We need to have it so that we’re making sure that the energy we produce is getting to the homes that it’s supposed to and the businesses that it’s supposed to with as little loss as possible.”

The smart meter program is set to cost $1 billion.

Asked if the program will raise tensions between BC cities and the government, Clark says UBCM conventions are bound to have resolutions that don’t agree with provincial or federal government policy.